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Montgomery Blair
| birth_place=Franklin County, Kentucky | death_date= | death_place=Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S. | party=Republican, Democratic | spouse=Mary Elizabeth Woodbury Blair | alma_mater=United States Military Academy | profession=Lawyer, Politician |branch=United States Army |battles=Seminole War }} Montgomery Blair (May 10, 1813 – July 27, 1883), the son of Francis Preston Blair, elder brother of Francis Preston Blair, Jr. and cousin of B. Gratz Brown, was a politician and lawyer from Maryland. He was a loyal member of the Cabinet of Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War. Blair was hot-tempered, and in 1864 he launched an all-out attack against Republican liberals. Life Blair was born in Franklin County, Kentucky. His father, Francis P. Blair, Sr., was, as editor of the Washington Globe, a prominent figure in the Democratic Party during the Jacksonian era. Blair graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1835, but after a year's service in the Seminole War, he left the Army, studied law, and began practice at St Louis, Missouri. After serving as United States district attorney (1839–43) and as judge of the court of common pleas (1834–1849), he moved to Maryland in 1852 and devoted himself to law practice principally in the United States Supreme Court. He was United States Solicitor in the Court of Claims (1855–58) and was associated with George T. Curtis as counsel for the plaintiff in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case of 1857. The Blairs, like many other nationalist Democrats, but unusually for politicians from the border states, had abandoned the Democratic Party in the wake of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and had been among the founding leaders of the new Republican Party. In 1860 Montgomery Blair took an active part in the presidential campaign on behalf of Abraham Lincoln. After his election, Lincoln invited Blair to be part of his cabinet as Postmaster-General. Lincoln expected Blair, who advocated taking a firm stance with the southern states, to help balance more conciliatory members of his cabinet.Goodwin, 2005, Chapter 11. Blair served as Postmaster-General from 1861 until September 1864, when Lincoln accepted an earlier offer by Blair to resign. Lincoln's action may have been a response to the hostility of the Radical Republican faction, who stipulated that Blair's retirement should follow the withdrawal of John C. Frémont's name as a candidate for the presidential nomination in that year. Regarding Lincoln's action, Blair told his wife that the president had acted "from the best motives" and that "it is for the best all around." After he left the cabinet, Blair still campaigned for Lincoln's re-election and Lincoln and the Blair family retained close ties.Goodwin, 2005, Chapter 24. Under Blair's administration, such reforms and improvements as the establishment of free city delivery, the adoption of a money order system, and the use of railway mail cars were instituted — the last having been suggested by George B. Armstrong (d. 1871), of Chicago, who from 1869 until his death was general superintendent of the United States railway mail service. Differing from the Republican Party on the Reconstruction policy, Blair gave his adherence to the Democratic Party after the Civil War, along with his brother, who was the Democratic vice presidential candidate in 1868. His manor in present-day Silver Spring, Maryland was named Falkland. It was burned by Confederate troops during their thrust towards Washington, D.C. He died at Silver Spring. Montgomery Blair's wife was Mary Woodbury, a daughter of Levi Woodbury. Together, they were the great-grandparents of actor Montgomery Clift. Works * Speech on the Causes of the Rebellion (1864) Honors Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. Gallery Image:PG-MBlair-Postbellum.jpg|Montgomery Blair in his postbellum. Image:Emancipation proclamation.jpg|Lincoln met with his Cabinet for the first reading of the Emancipation Proclamation draft on July 22, 1862. Publications * Croly, Seymour and Blair: Their Lives and Services (1868) Notes References * * * Goodwin, D. K. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005. ISBN 1-4165-4983-8 (electronic edition). External links *Biography *Mr. Lincoln and Friends: Montgomery Blair *Mr. Lincoln and Freedom: Montgomery Blair *Mr. Lincoln's White House: Montgomery Blair * Category:1813 births Category:1883 deaths Category:People from Franklin County, Kentucky Category:United States Military Academy alumni Category:People of the Seminole Wars Category:Maryland state court judges Category:United States Attorneys Category:United States Postmasters General Category:American political writers Category:People of Maryland in the American Civil War Category:Union political leaders de:Montgomery Blair fr:Montgomery Blair it:Montgomery Blair nl:Montgomery Blair ja:モンゴメリー・ブレア